Mortgage notes change hands several times six months to one year after they are shut. Lenders are expected to tell you if your servicer, the company you make your payments to, changes. If the owner of your loan changes, they are not required to notify you. Frequently the servicer receives a servicing fee by the owner of the loan to collect your payments, supply customer service and handle your bank account.
Time Frame
Most loan lenders have lines of credit they use to close mortgage loans. They create agreements with bigger investors and banks to sell them the loans they originate. After they shut mortgage lenders want to sell the loans. This frees up the charge lines to close more mortgage loans. Typically, they strive to sell the loan in 90 days after the loan closes.
Servicer
Some lenders offer the loan but maintain the servicing rights to the loans. Usually these are the biggest banks and mortgage lenders. Smaller lenders will sell both the loan and the servicing rights to a different company. That new firm may then sell the loan to a very large investor, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and maintain the servicing agreements. The loan servicer keeps part of the monthly interest payment as compensation for servicing the loan.
Investors
The two biggest government sponsored mortgage shareholders are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The national government created them as independent companies but has since consolidated them to the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2008. While they invest in a significant amount of mortgage loans, homeowners can’t go to either of those companies to acquire a mortgage. You must go to a bank or mortgage lender. FHA and VA don’t offer mortgage loans. FHA covers and VA guarantees mortgage loans made by banks. A lesser known government entity named Ginnie Mae buys FHA and VA loans from lenders.
Considerations
Normally it does not matter who owns your loan. The new owner can’t change any portion of your mortgage note, regardless of who buys it or the number of times it is sold. It’s even possible many employers or people could be a part owner of your loan if it becomes a part of a mortgage backed security. Mortgage backed securities are all created out of several loan loans that are securitized and sold as investments. Depending on what investments or mutual funds you’ve got, you could be a part owner of your own mortgage.
Significance
It is important to understand that the investor is if you have to take advantage of the Creating Home Affordable programs initiated by the government in response to this mortgage meltdown. You can discover the owner of your loan by simply phoning your servicer. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae all offer tools on their websites that enable you to learn if one of these possesses your mortgage.